Greg Hinz On Politics

Local GOP congressmen on Obamacare hot seat again

If you want to know why the House GOP leadership once again has delayed a vote on repealing and replacing Obamacare, a good place to look is at the three Republicans who represent much of Chicago's suburbs: Randy Hultgren, Adam Kinzinger, and Peter Roskam.

Right now, not one of the three is publicly favoring the bill being pushed by President Donald Trump after he struck a deal with the conservative House Freedom Caucus. And there are signs that at least one of them—and maybe even two—will defect if and when the measure is called for a vote.

Here's what spokesmen for the three and other insiders are saying.

The most questionable backer at the moment is Kinzinger, a moderate from Joliet who repeatedly has clashed with the Freedom Caucus.

"Truthfully, he's undecided," his spokeswoman said, confirming that Kinzinger no longer should be counted in the "aye" camp, as he was before the latest changes that, among other things, weakened guarantees that those with pre-existing medical conditions still will be able to purchase health insurance at affordable rates.

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Crain's

Randy Hultgren

"There are a handful of red flags," said one source close to Kinzinger. That source did not list the flags, but many moderates are reluctant to vote until the latest version of the bill is vetted and scored by the Congressional Budget Office, which badly hurt the prior version by projecting that it would leave 24 million fewer people with insurance within a decade.

Also on the fence is Hultgren, who is farther to the political right than Kinzinger but has faced strong objections from rural hospitals in his district.

The Plano Republican is "taking a look, and listening to constituents, hospitals, doctors, etc., on the changes," his communications director says.

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Bloomberg

Peter Roskam

That leaves Wheaton's Roskam, who has been very loyal to Speaker Paul Ryan so far on this matter but faces increasing heat from Democrats in a district that Hillary Clinton won.

"Still reviewing," said his spokesman. "I will imagine he'll take the weekend to study it."

That didn't stop one of Roskam's potential re-election rivals, former Naperville school board member Suzyn Price, from calling on Roskam to oppose the bill.

"If you have cancer, diabetes or if you're pregnant, insurance companies will be able to deny you care or vastly increase the cost of it under the new Roskam-Ryan-Trump plan," she said in a statement. "We need a representative in the 6th district that listens to what people want and stands up against this radical agenda."

Gov. Bruce Rauner has not said anything publicly, but sources say his administration has some problems with the latest draft of the health insurance bill.